To what extent do I consider his stack size

[jimmer]

I'm just reviewing my HH from last nights tourney and have to ask something which is bugging me. It's a hypothetical question.

The Situation
It's a $5 freezeout. 5,000 players started, 500 get paid 2000 are left. The blinds are 100/200 and I have 6,000 chips. Player A is sat to my right and has been playing loose agressive all night.

On this particular hand I'm on the cut off. It folds around to Player A and he raises 3xbb (which was to be expected). I look down and see pocket tens.

Scenario 1
Player A has 15,000 chips.

Scenario 2
Player A has 3,000 chips.

My question:
Do I take into consideration his stack size before deciding on my play - knowing in one scenario he could knock me out of the tourney if i get it wrong?

I don't know whether this is a stupid question or not, because we are still a long way from the money but sooner or later I will have to start fighting back. One side of me says 'you know he plays loose-aggressive, so be prepared to get all your money in the middle this hand' the other side of me says 'You don't want to get knocked out the tourney at this stage because there's still a long way to go'.

It all comes down the his stack size and me assessing the risk associated with it. I just don't know how to assess that risk yet?

[Jernej Zorec]

either way u also need to consider blinds,
but i suppose vs 15k stack i'm 3beting to about 1.6-1.9k
and vs 3k stack i shove

[golddog]

To answer your question, I think you have to consider his stack size in the manner which you already have: if I tangle with him, am I in jeopardy (first scenario), or will I be alive (second, a shove/call/loss leaves you with 15 BB--not great, but not out).

Once you've decided the level of risk is acceptable for you, I like what Jernej says. But, also think about your experience with this particular player.

Is he likely to re-raise you all-in if you come over the top? If so, how do you feel about getting all in with tens? If you figure that's where you're going anyway, maybe just move in.

I especially like Jernej's line if you've seen him raise just trying to get the blinds, but folding to pressure pre- or post-flop.

Another play can be to smooth call and put on your miner's hat (although I think that fits better with smaller hands than 10-10).

But I like trying to get the blinds out with a raise, and let's see how he reacts.

[sactokid544]

To answer your question, I think you have to consider his stack size in the manner which you already have: if I tangle with him, am I in jeopardy (first scenario), or will I be alive (second, a shove/call/loss leaves you with 15 BB--not great, but not out).

Once you've decided the level of risk is acceptable for you, I like what Jernej says. But, also think about your experience with this particular player.

Is he likely to re-raise you all-in if you come over the top? If so, how do you feel about getting all in with tens? If you figure that's where you're going anyway, maybe just move in.

I especially like Jernej's line if you've seen him raise just trying to get the blinds, but folding to pressure pre- or post-flop.

Another play can be to smooth call and put on your miner's hat (although I think that fits better with smaller hands than 10-10).

But I like trying to get the blinds out with a raise, and let's see how he reacts.

I agree. It's always better to be heads up with a LAG than multi-way. Especially with TT since you are losing value with each player in the pot.

Against a LAG, TT beats a good amount of hands within his range. So, I would follow Jernej's line.

3-betting becomes even more mandatory if you know he is passive against strength pre and will fold to 3-bets.

As far as set-mining, I think that depends on what type of stacks/players the blinds are. If you aren't getting a implied odds from them, (i.e. tight/passive, short-stacked), there isn't really any reason to set-mine because you aren't changing the amount of money you are winning anyways..

Additionally, if you start fighting back now, that might set the stage later on in the tournament. It might keep him from trying to steal a lot in the CO because he fears a raise from your button. This might allow you to steal more. So, reraising with TT might actually result in more chips down the road.

So, I think that taking into consideration the stack-size is important as far is sizing your 3-bet as Jernej said.. But, you have to consider everything else that is going into the hand and not just the fact that he can knock you out.. And, regardless of his stack size, I think against that type of player, it's always worth the risk to 3-bet TT in position.

[Jernej Zorec]

just to make it clear tho i'm not folding TT vs a player like this, no matter his stack, my 3 bet is sized so that i have about pot sized bet left on flop where i will ship almost 100% if he calls my 3bet, and i'm never folding preflop if he 4bet shoves

[lwestatbus]

Jimmer's original question and the discussion focused on the impact of villain's stack size on J's stack if J ends up all-in vs. villain. But there is another stack size issues which is the likelihood that villain will 4-bet to a reraise including the possibility of 4-betting all in (either villain is all in or J is all in depending on the scenario).

When I have a good but vulnerable hand I would much prefer to not be called on whatever move I make with it. And opponent stack sizes influence the likelihood of being called or reraised as well as the potential impact on your stack if you end up in the furball with villain. (The two components of risk are value of the event x the probability that it occurs.) I always think that I am more likely to be loose-called or even reraised by two types of stacks. First is a shorter stack with an ace, paint, a pair, etc., who now sees the extra money you've put in the pot as the best shoving opportunity he is going to see before getting blinded out. The second is the massive stack who can afford to gamble.

Lots of other things, including history with villain (or potential villain) matter, of course, but if I'm looking at something like pocket tens I'm going to play as if any shorter stack left to act will be all in and that any huge stack left to act will call. Depending on the stack sizes I may raise to put potential short stack callers all in in advance. I will also have already decided on what I will do on various kinds of flops if I get a big stack caller and also what I am going to do with a big stack reraise.

This idea of how opponent stack size influences their likely responses is actually what I thought the post would be about based on the title.

[miaowmiaowchowface]

of course you do, but in this situation you need to 3bet it both times assuming you are less than 70bb deep or so